Living Water!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Fall y'all!

I'm so very grateful for my family!!!!!! Thank you for... wow just about everything! You are my whole life! Thanks for the love. Good thing we have eternity to play.

We had a zone activity today! We Hiked Noccalula Falls and had a companionship study next to them! Wow. So cool. I will send you pictures:)

We are spending thanksgiving at a couple of homes here in rainbow city! We are going to have a lot of food. We are excited. We are having it at a less active's and a part members! Wahoo!

Elder Dube is too neat. Pres. Hanks sent y'all the letter of what we learned and Holy Cow it was just all that! We were kind of nervous to meet him because he is a general authority and then he started making us laugh with all kinds of stuff like, "Sometimes we wait to long to qualify ourselves for the kingdom of God." #marriage Imagine that statement in an African accent and you are set.

One of my favorite parts of Elder Dubes' trainings was when he talked about our potential. Everyone has infinite potential absolutely everyone. Moses saw his potential in action (Moses 1:8)

Pres. Hanks also talked about our potential and showed us a photo of Elder Holland, Elder Cook, and Marian D. Hanks their mission President... Woah! What does that mean for the ABM!

We have an investigator who is going though cancer treatments. Right before she started them we taught her the Restoration and she reads the Book of Mormon every night! She says it brings her peace! We are seeing amazing things.

We didn't get to see the Hindu family this week but we this week, probably on thanksgiving. haha.

Anyways, I'm so very grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ, because of Him of course we can have true joy in eternity but we may also have it today.

I love you!

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

P.S. Elder Udy from portage is coming home in December. Thank you for the package!!!!! The Nepal family will love the video :) Love you!

Noccalula Falls

"Dear Heavenly Father, I'm grateful that school is over cause you know it's so hard." -Bropab

Jesus Christ in a home.

Hey Y'all!

SISTER NIELSEN AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!! YEESSSSSS! After transfer calls we had about a 5 minute happy dance that turned into planning while pacing the apartment. :D We are ready to see miracles this transfer. TENACITY! GGGGRRRRRRR!

Sister Nielsen is so wonderful. I love her so much! She's a hard worker. She is so loving and selfless. My goodness where did she come from? Heaven I guess:)

We got to teach the best lesson on Saturday. We have been teaching a family that is from Napal and they don't know anything about Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their niece came over while we were there and she asked what Jesus Christ's story was..............wow. So cool. We got to tell her who He is and that He saved us. We asked, "How would it change your life if you knew that Jesus Christ was your Savior?"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She said that it gives her a lot of peace. Just wow. Neatest experience ever!!!!

It is the coolest thing to testify so often on the mission. When I testified of the Savior and that He gave his life for us the spirit flooded over me letting me know that it was true. I've never felt the Savior nearer. It's almost like remembering the relationship we all had with Him before this earth. Forever our brother. So cool.

It is so neat to see Christ in this family's home. We've got a lot of teaching a head of us but slowly and surely they are understanding. We are teaching the Mother more English as well. It is too fun. Luckily the Spanish missionaries have lesson plans to teach English. Last night it was one of the girls Birthday and they fed us Napali food! (picture attached) it was really good! Very Spicy.

The first time we taught them to pray we kneeled on the floor. They don't know you can pray standing so we always kneel. There is so much power in kneeling prayers! One of my favorite prayers of theirs is the subject line. Bropab is fabulous and loves Bama football too!

We also had zone training this week! It's been fabulous!

Thank you for your prayers! Sister Haslam comes home this week! Crazy how times goes.

Love you so very much.

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

Gadsden Zone Training

Pablan Sharma Family!

Yup! haven't seen the sun in probably 12 days!! haha! I like Rainbow City :)

We Are a Forward Leaning Mission!

Hey family!

This week has been awesome! We've done a lot of work and we feel great! We were so tired last night from biking, walking, and all the fun stuff we do. It's a blast!

If I could capture a moment in my mission one of them would have to be Sister Nielson and I flying down a hill on our bikes singing "I Believe I Can Fly" while resting our feet on the bar above the peddles. There's tons of hills! I remember when I saw sister Wittwer do that for the first time I thought she was going to fall off her bike! I know this is a good work we are doing.

We did a lot of following up with people this week. Some people stood us up some people were there! It was awesome!

Our friend D who we have been teaching for the past two transfers said she would come to church on Wednesday! We teach Principles of the Gospel that day with the Elders. Almost every church here has a service on Wednesday. This is huge for D to come to church because she loves her church but has been feeling the spirit in every lesson we've had! She got an answer that it was true but now she's praying about if this is where she needs to be. She is so good at receiving answers she'll have it in no time:) We are excited:)

Zone training was awesome! We played a name game that everyone should play before you die. Everyone stands in a circle and one person points to another person, says their name and starts to walk towards them. If the person pointing and walking touches the person before they say another name and walk then they are out. It's too fun:) I almost won!

Our zone training was a lot about relationships this time around. President Hanks is always looking to help us be better people not only better missionaries. I prayed to know how I could better my relationship's with other and I got the impression to have a better relationship with my Heavenly Father first. So I talked to him in my prayer like my best friend told him some jokes and laughed and it made a world of a difference. People her in the South are so good at that. They will talk to God anywhere they are! Loud and proud:)

Well I love y'all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

P.S. WE FOUND OUR FAMILY!!!!!!! Yes, the family that we posted all over our house in stick figure form! Sister Nielson and I were walking into Dollar General and we past this family who was in the parking lot. The Holy Ghost said you need to talk to that family but we were already past them! TOAST! We turned right around and shook their hands. It's amazing what a handshake can do. It melted a little of the awkward. As we asked some questions to get to know them we scanned the family and sure enough there are two boys, 1 girl, and the dad was wearing a Bama shirt. He was waiting to get tickets to the game! The Mom was close by too. We told them we could share a message with their kids about Jesus and they were super hesitant. We wouldn't take no for an answer while trying to be as "normal" as possible. Part of me wanted to yell, "We've been looking for you everywhere!!!!!! Come, everyone let's get baptized. :) We have an appointment with them on Saturday:)

Biking up super steep hills- they are everywhere here!!​

 I hope you can see how steep that hill is- cause I about died.

Sister ??, Sister Anderl, Sister, Nielsen, and Sister Gibbs

"Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies are the main reason why I have trust issues." - Anonymous

Hey friends,

This week was a superstar week. We had MLC and Zone training so as always it was very full. President and Sister Hanks are so smart and loving. Thank the high Heaven they were born. 

Did I tell you that on an exchange with Sister Brown in Amory I told a woman that I liked her earrings and she took them off her ears and gave them to me! Every faux diamond and every cross. It was fabulous. 

Yesterday as we were tracting in the heat a woman agreed to disagree and offered to feed us dinner. We also got 3 water bottles from the 6 houses we knocked on that street. Not bad! The South really is full of amazing Christians. 

We met a fun couple last night for the 2nd time! This time it was at their house instead of the parking lot at Walmart. As we were walking into Walmart a man asked us do you believe in one God? Why yes we do. He said no you don't and walked away. The man we met again last night was ticked that he said that to us and told us last night that we should basically call him instead of 911 if something happened to us. "I've lived that life! I've been behind those walls! Y'all jus call me!" He played pro football for a college right before he went to prison for 15 years. He's doing great now and loves the Book of Mormon! Wahoo!

Anywho, as for the title of my email, I've been studying trust lately and yesterday in sacrament meeting as Christa our 26 year old investigator heard the beautiful testimonies, this scripture popped into my head.

"We love him because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

I know our Heavenly Father trusts us to do good, make the right decision, be steadfast in Christ etc. How he built that trust in that relationship was first loving us and believing in us. I know that is the same in all relationships. The Holy Ghost whispered to me if you want trust in relationships love them first and they will love you back. 

Christa is so close to baptism it's her Birthday today so if you want to send her a b day card, send one to me and we will give it to her. 

I love you! Thanks for all the love! Sister Bailey and I are doing awesome and loving Tupelo.

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

Sister Gondwe and Sister Gibbs:) She is fabulous!

 The Tupelo South Zone!

The lesson we prepared for the little 8 year old. We are teaching 

the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So we are doing the steps to get to the 

Celestial Kingdom. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and 

Enduring to the End. Inside this Celestial Kingdom box is a whole 

bunch of Starbursts...and a picture of her family.. 

Spiders

Hey Dad, Mom, Steph, Randy, Sophia, Alyssa, Devin, Nat, Trevor and the rest of my wonderful family!

I love you and miss you:)

I'm staying another transfer in Tupelo!!!:) Bring it!!! I'm totally walking in Sister Wilson's shoes. 9 months here we come! Jk probably only 7. I love Tupelo! Sometimes is frustrating when people don't just get in the font but they're a coming.

Nothing like standing up for your religious beliefs on Independence day:)

I must say the South could improve on their celebration of Independence day! Well all the BBQ is a daily thing so I guess we can give them a break.

 7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever. 2 Nephi 1:7

It was so fun to share this scripture with everyone on the 4th of July! We just asked everyone if they would like to hear a scripture about America and then told them that the Book of Mormon takes place in America! It was fun. Everyone was outside except for when it was down poring! We taught a lesson under a bridge at the park in order to escape the monsoon happening! We've had 9 inches of rain in 2 days! The thunder was crazy! We talked to the most people at Ballard Park and the mall. It was fabulous. 

One thing that got me brewing was a sweet lady who wanted to bash with us as the Independence day parade was passing us. Independence from what you may ask? RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION! Ironic. She was nice she gave us a bible. Bless her heart. If it wasn't for the training we just had on no bashing I might have lost my temper. Thank Heavens I have Sister Bailey to keep me going. 

OK this was hilarious! When we got home for lunch we saw a JW pamphlet at our door. Cool. Then at the end of the night we had 5 on the ground in front of it. Buahahah. We are pretty sure our apartment complex thinks we are Jehovah Witnesses. Might have missed the mark there. 

The best part of the 4th of July was when Sister Bailey and I met our apostolic twins! They are both missionaries for their church and they are hilarious! It was like talking to our best friends:) They want to know more about what we believe and with the converting power of the Book of Mormon you know what happens:)

So we had MLC this week and Zone training. Which were both successes thanks to the Elders! They are fabulous. I've had the opportunity to play the piano in church, zone training and district meetings...:) I'm sorry for not practicing the hymns mom. It's so sad that I made that mistake a long with all of the piano quitters out there. I still can play the hymns with one hand :) I'm practicing. A big thank you to all the piano players who are unsung heroes in the church!

Tommy should be getting baptized this week. :)

I LOVE you and I've grateful for you. 

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

PS It has been raining nonstop here so it's been pretty cool. The summer hasn't gotten to bad yet :) It’s HOT one minute and raining the next! We got 9 inches of rain in 2 days!! Humidity is terrible sometimes but we make it :)

We painted pictures last p-day:)

Zone Training

This is what our Fourth of July looked like. 9 inches of rain. 

Happy Independence Day. 

We are in the Lee County Daily Journal!!

Hey Family,

Thanks for talking to me on Mother’s Day...not! Just kidding I can't wait to talk to you next week. Hope y'all are doing well and can't wait to see your beautiful and handsome faces!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM! I have the best mom in the world!!!!!! Thanks for loving me and for making me limeade in the summer, making me laugh and for being my hero. What a blessing it is to have a mom! Mother's day on the mission is so great. All the missionaries especially the Elders are just giddy to talk to their moms! It's great the whole world turns into little kids on Mother’s day. I LOVE YOU MOM! Be looking for something in the mail!

This week Elder Turley, Elder Yergensen, Sister Crandall, and I got interviewed by the County Daily Journal! It was pretty neat. The man who interviewed us was writing an article about door to door proselyting. It's going to be published on Saturday. The craziest question he asked us was if we ever walk into any uncomfortable situations behind the door we are knocking, so it wasn't bad at all. The answer to that question in Southern tones is "MMMMhhhmmm." We didn't tell him the really crazy ones, but I think my craziest one was a woman recovering after a gastric bypass surgery and she wanted to show us her scar. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Any who, we were all a little apprehensive about what he was going to ask us, but the spirit was there guiding our words. We will send you the article. It should be pretty cool. We feel pretty famous now:)

This week was my official hump day of being in the field! I've been in the South for 9 months!!!!!! This is crazy. It goes by so fast! I've got a lot to do.

On Monday we had a return appointment with Terrica. How we found Terrica was pretty hilarious. Way back yonder Sister Crandall and I weren't feeling very well so we went home to grab a bite to eat. As we looked in the cupboards for food we saw a brownie mix, and decided to make some for the bishop. As we gathered the ingredients the only thing we were missing was a pan to cook them in. So we do like missionaries and tract to find a brownie pan, while sharing the Gospel. #faithtofindabrowniepanandbaptisms After knocking about 10 doors finally someone had one they were willing to share. We made the brownies and then gave the sweet lady her brownie pan back with a brownie on it. We asked if we could share a message with her and she said absolutely. On Monday, when we went to teach her, she said that her friends told her that she had just been swindled by the Mormons. Guess what? She boldly defended us saying,

"Those girls meant no harm so I'm sure there message means no harm. They were just sweet girls who needed a brownie pan and I'm not afraid to hear their message!"

No act of service is too small right? She loved the Restoration and wants to learn more. The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways:)

I love y'all and am so grateful for you:)

Have a blessed week!

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

Zone Activity

 Tupelo South Zone

 Sand Volleyball

 Sister Mason and Sister Crandall

 The beautiful Latoya

The elders rewarded us with ice cream, and we were 

trying to fast dry the no bake cookies.

 Catfish and Spaghetti!

May the 4th be with you

The Force is strong with this one.

 Happy Mother's Day!!!

Us: "Yup we sure are in the Bible Belt" Them: "You're in the BUCKLE"

Hey family:)

It's been an amazing week! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It's going to be a fun day of missionary work tomorrow:) I'm 20!!!!! Not a teenager anymore:) Yippee Skippy!

Sister Crandall and I are staying together in Tupelo! We are excited! Guess what! Sister Crandall will be going home! hahaha killing my 4th:)

Guess what! A family came into the recent convert meeting at stake conference who aren't members, but came from Utah and are interested in the church! They've been to two sacrament meetings there and want to know more! The investigator meeting was a good one to walk into. They were really confused so they were happy to hear that missionaries could meet with them. Crazy miracles happen every day!

So you are probably wondering what the investigator/recent convert meeting was at stake conference... First off, we had the best stake conference in the world! Elder Fred A. Parker of the area 70 came and lead all of the meetings. Elder Parker is a black, Baptist convert! He is awesome. He investigated the church for 4 years and then married the girl that introduced him to it. I bet you can imagine what our meetings were like. Everything he said, he said with passion, power, and authority :) His hands were waving in the air, he was gripping the pulpit, and most importantly testifying with passion. He is a special witness of the Savior. He had all the missionaries stand up and then thanked us for our service. President and Sister Hanks were there too. Wow it was cool. All the black members felt right at home. :) So he conducted a meeting with all the investigating and new members and encouraged them. He was real with us and told us to never get offended. He said something like, "The only being I have covenanted with in this Church is Jesus Christ and I will follow him. I will NEVER let anyone determine my Salvation except for him." So cool.

This week was full of miracles because here's another one! A member who just left on his mission gave his friend a Book of Mormon and she totally wants to be baptized when she knows it's true! She's 18 and is tired of hearing about fire and brimstone at her church. She totally felt the spirit in the lesson and notices the difference.

Speaking of the spirit and absence of the spirit. Yesterday we went to a Baptist scripture study in someone's home. It was a good experience:) It was nice to see the difference in spirit level, and now we know a little bit more about what our investigators think of when we say "church." There was a stark difference in the spirit level. Also I was a little terrified to be a "visitor" in another churches bible study. It helped me understand how the investigators feel coming to ours. Towards the end of the study in Revelations, yeah it was confusing, I felt prompted to bear my testimony. The person leading the study had been talking about the wrath of God, and the signs of the times which resulted in an unsettling feeling in the room by everyone. (lack of the spirit) We were all confused what Revelations was talking about. The spirit told me to open my mouth and I was so scared. Sister Crandall and I had been quiet the whole time, but I couldn't deny the prompting. I then testified of the love of God and that the happy ending in Revelations is when the Savior comes again. This is the source of all happiness despite the "wrath" that will be given to those who want it. I have a firm testimony that Heavenly Father will give his children every opportunity he can to save all of his children. As I testified the spirit flooded the room and Sister Crandall told me later that it hit her, as well as everyone, like a punch to the stomach.

The spirit is real, it's of God, and it can only be had in a fullness when we partake of the fullness of the Gospel.  I can physically notice a difference in a person’s demeanor if they have the Gift of the Holy Ghost or not. Whenever Sister Crandall and I leave a members home or a place where we were just with Mormons I've started to say, "I love Mormons." There's a difference and it's a blessing to have this Gospel so easily in our lives.

Love y'all so much! be safe:) and share the light with everyone. They WILL recognize it.

Steadfast in Christ

Love, Sister Gibbs

ZONE CONFERENCE!!

Sister Crandall by our table preparing for zone training:) 

Zone Leaders 

Elder Turley and Smith get "Stress Staches" before zone training XD

 

Our Awesome Zone!! 

Elder Hills wanted to hold Shelton the bird at brother Hoopers house. 

He bites though, and climbed onto elder hills shoulder. Elder Hills was 

freaking out since he didn't want Shelton to bite his ear.

Making pies with the Nelsons'! 

Getting covered in Dough and Crisco! 

Relaxation time 

Finished product 

Brother Hooper is our ward mission leader and he obsessed with Start wars. 

He has a tradition where at the end of every transfer we take light saber 

pictures with all the missionaries.

How are you Greg? "Hangin’ on like a bent tooth"

Dear Family and Friends,

The above quote is from our friend at Kroger who got us some nice green bananas. It's a funny quote and it pretty much accurately describes the week.

Tuesday was MLC (Missionary Leadership Training) It was awesome. I've never felt the power and authority of missionary work stronger than when I'm at missionary meetings with President Hanks. It lasted all day. We woke up at 5:00 to drive and then got home at 9:30. It was crazy. So much spirit, driving, and thinking. We were exhausted.

Next we went to Florence, Alabama for an exchange with those cute sisters:) They are 2 hours away. We saw so many miracles that day in Tupelo! There is a higher energy when we are on exchanges and the Lord always blesses us with people to talk to.

Then on Thursday we prepared for zone training. Oh man it was nuts! We took President's 8 hour trainings and condensed them to a 3 hour training for the zone. It was crazy!!!! I've never felt so mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted in my life! Crazy. We got a lot done and zone training was awesome. It was all because of the Grace of God and the spirit that fills the room when missionaries meet that saved us. Really though one of those trust in God moments. It was awesome.

Then we went on exchanges again after zone training with the Corinth sisters. They are amazing! I was in Tupelo with Sister Egan and guess what!!! We got stuck in the mud. Gotta love Alabama wet weather. It was pretty hilarious actually. A member came and pulled us out. What a blessed soul:)

Also Joshua still hasn't been confirmed! We finally got a hold of him and he's planning on this weekend, but he just needs a ride to Tupelo from Pocahontas, Arkansas, where he's working. So it's been kinda hectic, but the Lord was with us the whole time.

This week we are going to the TEMPLE!!!! AAAAHHH! So excited! This will be my 2nd time at the AL Temple.:)

Too blessed to be stressed:)

Love you!

 Our car stuck with Sister Egan!

 Zone training! In the High counsel room because of a wedding in the gym:) 

28 companionships in the high counsel room! We can do anything!

Sis. Gibbs and Sis. Hubbard